A pose in which a figure or group of figures twists in three dimensions, creating the impression of movement and, with sculptures, encourages viewing of the piece from all sides. In western art, the pose was seen in Hellenistic art, but was adopted and further developed in the Mannerist style, growing out of the Classical and Renaissance "contrapposto"; figura serpentinata moves figures in a spiral pose or other pose having larger numbers of axes than contrapposto.
